Since the protests over water shortages broke out in Khuzestan two weeks ago, the regime has sent in military convoys and opened fire on peaceful demonstrators with live ammunition, but news has been slow to filter out because of strategic internet blackouts across the region.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) reported that at least 12 people were murdered in these crackdowns, with those people being named, but warned that this number will rise as more information filters out whenever the internet comes on. The MEK explained that two of these people were just 17 and that five of them were under 30.
Of course, the regime’s attempt to quash the protests through violence has failed. Unsurprising, the people are angered by the murder of their fellow Iranians and the funeral of 17-year-old protester Hadi Bahmani actually spurred new anti-regime protests, as they showed support for those attacked and killed in the initial protests.
In Zanjan, Bojnurd, and other cities, protesters chanted “Iranians die, but we will not accept humiliation” and other slogans that call direct attention to the murders, affirming their intention to remain active in protests, even if the regime will continue to resort to violence.
Iranian Resistance leader Maryam Rajavi tweeted on Monday “Hail to the defiant youths in Tehran”, praising them for sounding the “death knell” of the regime and saying that the “protesters in Tehran display the Iranian people’s firm resolve to establish democracy and national sovereignty”.
This is not the first time that the regime has faced widespread protests. Nationwide uprisings sure to overthrow the mullahs began in 2017, each focusing on issues that were affecting people then and there, but also becoming increasingly political, with people calling for the mullahs to go. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has even been forced to admit that the MEK was behind the protests, even though the official regime line has been that the MEK has little domestic support.
One of the most major uprisings took place in November 2019, where over 1,500 people were shot dead by the regime’s forces and 12,000 people were arrested, subjected to torture. The coronavirus helped to suppress the people’s anger because they needed to observe social distancing, but there is only so long this can hold out and, obviously, this is the breaking point.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a statement on Sunday, July 25, urging “the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Security Council, the European Union, and its member states to condemn these crimes against humanity” and take steps to hold the regime leaders accountable for similar crimes throughout the regime’s history.